Frank Klepacki to perform with Video Games Live!

Yes, Frank Klepacki will be performing with a full symphonic orchestra and do the Hell March 1 and 2 in Las Vegas!!! ARRRGGGGHHHH! I need to get over to Las Vegas just to see this moment!!!!

Anyways, here’s the press release of the whole announcement:

LOS ANGELES, CA – June 11, 2008 – Video Games Live announced today that the music of the Command & Conquer franchise will be premiered for the first time ever this weekend during the Henderson/Las Vegas performance at the Henderson Pavilion with the Las Vegas Philharmonic. Las Vegas, Nevada is the birthplace of the Command & Conquer franchise which has sold over 22 million units worldwide. Initially created and developed at Las Vegas based Westwood Studios between 1995 and 2003, the award-winning franchise currently contains seventeen games with various expansion packs. The first installment of the series was released worldwide on August 31, 1995 and was based on Westwood Studios’ earlier strategy game Dune 2.

Joining the C&C World Premiere will be renowned C&C composer Frank Klepacki who (along with his band and the symphony) will be performing a special arrangement consisting of Hell March 1 & 2. Also performing will be legendary voice actor Dee Baker whose titles include Halo 2 & 3, Final Fantasy X-2, Metal Gear Solid 2, Kingdom Hearts, Gears of War 2, Viewtiful Joe, EverQuest II and Spider-Man among others. Other game titles featured with the Las Vegas Philharmonic this weekend will be Mario, Zelda, Halo, Kingdom Hearts, Metal Gear Solid, Final Fantasy, Sonic, Warcraft, Tron and many more!

For more information on the orchestra performance, go to this website here. I wish they would do a full-out symphonic orchestra of music from Universe At War….. If anyone out there is going to see the show, please get a recording or at the very least, a review!!

Command and Conquer: Renegade 2, linking the Red Alert and Tiberium universes

As some C&C fans may know, Westwood Studios originally conceived Renegade 2 as the prequel to first Renegade title, linking the Red Alert and Tiberium universes. This game would link the events after Red Alert 2 and Tiberian Dawn, although details of how it links was severely lacking due to the fact that the project was canceled for unknown reasons. If you go to the CNCNZ.com website, the website collected every single shred of game images and information it can regarding the canceled project. As one would look at the Renegade 2 image gallery, there are a number of images that pointed to the link between the two universes. One interesting image is the combination of the iconic Soviet sickle and the Nod’s scorpion tail, which foretells how Nod took advantage of the Soviet Union.

The prequel that would link the two universes was ultimately canceled and to put the final nail in the coffin, a recent interview with Louis Castle, who remains with EA Games to this day, decided that the Red Alert and Tiberium universes will never be linked ever again. Brett Sperry’s baby was Command and Conquer, rather than Louis Castle’s. For now on, we will have to deal with THREE C&C universes: Tiberium, Red Alert, and Generals. It’s a real shame that the original vision of Red Alert was completely changed over the years.

Another CD single, dedicated to Command and Conquer… Two Tribes!

As I mentioned earlier in my posts, I mentioned of another CD single that was released when Command and Conquer 2:Tiberian Sun was released. First, it was Cobalt 60’s Crush for the German Red Alert soundtrack but we’ve got something else from Germany. It’s a Frankie Goes to Hollywood song, Two Tribes, by a German electronic-house-metal band, Think About Mutation. Yes, these genres may seem mutually exclusive to each other but their crossover types of music is actually awesome! I couldn’t find a proper image of the single itself so I had to snatch this from a German eBay auction bid.  Here it is:

Tracklist

1. Two Tribes
2. Angel
3. Breaktime 42

Yup, this female character is actually wearing the GDI helmet from Tiberian Sun (and in Tiberium Wars and Kane’s Wrath as well)!

Anyways, the CD single comes with a Quicktime MOV video of the Two Tribes song as a music video! All of the band members of TAM (coincidentally, their acronym is spelled as my last name) dressed up as GDI soldiers, as they play along the music. A bigger bonus is the inclusion of the cutscenes from Tiberian Sun, interspersed into the actual music video! It’s a perfectly fitting song, that sets quite well about the war of GDI vs Nod. Below is the music video found on YouTube.

Unfortunately, the band pretty much went defunct and all of their albums went out-of-print.  A number of eBay auctions related to this CD single can easily be found, which shouldn’t be too bad to buy.  European C&C fans may get them relatively easy due to the changing nature of foreign currencies.  You can also find their albums out there on eBay.  “Motorrazor” and “Housebastards” are some of my favourite albums, so check their music up for some dancing and moshing!